Fort Myers Film Festival celebrates 10th anniversary with red carpet gala, bull riding documentary
The 10th Annual Fort Myers Film Festival opened last night with a red carpet gala at the historic Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center and a screening of Ride Till I Die, a documentary that follows three bull riders chasing the dream of winning a championship and one man’s race against time for that elusive title. [See official trailer here.]
Nearly seventy films from around the world in seven categories (Features, Documentaries, Shorts, Short Shorts, Strictly Local, Student and Environment) have been curated into this year’s festival. They will screen at the Davis Art Center 
Thursday through Sunday (October 22-25). Films and short film blocks are just $10 apiece. The list for films that have been selected can be found here. Programs showing the days and times of all screenings is available online and at the Davis Art Center.
The festival will wrap at 6:00 p.m. Sunday night with a suspenseful awards ceremony and celebration. Join all of the local and international filmmakers as FMff celebrates the winners and all the filmmakers whose work made it into the tenth anniversary edition of the film festival that’s the talk of the industry from Florida to Atlanta and New York to L.A. Champagne and 
dessert will be shared, short award-winning films will be played and toasts will be deservedly pronounced.
Originally scheduled for May 6-10, the festival had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While this year’s festival features in-person screenings, talkbacks and filmmaker panels, it will also offer a number of virtual opportunities. However, all events conducted at the Davis Art Center and affiliated restaurants will optimize the safety of attendees. Toward that end, the Davis Art Center’s grand atrium will limit capacity and incorporate spaced seating and extra sanitization measures. In addition, both participants and attendees are strongly encouraged to wear masks, make liberal 
use of hand sanitizers and strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines.
The Fort Myers Film Festival is an intelligent independent filmmaker’s preferred event structured to create, unite and showcase the finest artistic cinematic works available each year. The Fort Myers Film Festival is known for world-class swagger and support of local filmmakers. The festival event offers ‘the most vibrant intellectual and edgy crowd to grace Lee County in decades.’ The event has featured hundreds of local filmmakers and is a must attend for cineastes who love indie film and film festivals living in Lee, 
Collier and Charlotte counties.
The Fort Myers Film Festival was awarded the prestigious 2015 Chrysalis Award for Cultural Achievement by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau and the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce Inc. at their annual Celebration of Business & Tourism Awards Luncheon and Trade Show at the Harborside Event Center in downtown Fort Myers. The Fort Myers Film Festival was founded by Eric Raddatz, the award-winning 
presentation editor of Florida Weekly, regular contributor for NBC-2 in Fort Myers, and host of Fort Myers Film Festival’s indie film show, “T.G.I.M.”
The Fort Myers Film Festival supports Lee County Schools filmmakers, Raddatz Foundation and Golisano’s Children’s Hospital. FMff is sponsored by UNIT A, Florida Weekly, Bennett’s Fresh Roast Coffee, Twisted Vine Bistro, J. Bert Davis M.D., F.A.C.S, Facial Surgeon, La Trattoria, Cafe Napole, 
Sam Galloway Ford, Black Tie Tuxedos, VanDyk Mortgage, Winged Foot Title, Riverside Realty, Blu Sushi, Douglas E. Spiegel. P.A., Capone’s Pizza, and Kearns Restaurant Group.
Fort Myers has a film festival, so come out for the excitement! For more information go to www.fortmyersfilmfestival.com or join www.facebook.com/fortmyersfilmfestival for updates and events.
October 22, 2020
About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.